Lone Star Packards was formed in the
Houston area in 1964 and it is the third oldest region of the Packard
Club in the country. Since we were the first Packard club in
Texas, we laid claim to the Lone Star name and had members
from all over the state. Today we have three other regions in
Texas so most of the Lone Star Packards members reside in the
Houston Gulf Coast area. Our club welcomes anyone with an
interest in Packards whether they own a Packard or not. We are a family
oriented club and many of our children have grown up in the club and
now bring their children to the meetings and activities. One of
the reasons for the success of Lone Star Packards has to
be related to the many activities we offer through out the
year. Every month we have a meeting held in rotating areas
of the greater Houston area. We have a Christmas party at an
upscale facility, we have an annual fall tour, and we have a
huge contingent of our membership that makes the annual trek to the
Texas Packard Meet in April. In addition, our club does
at least two public service activities each year. We have a
rich history of which we are very proud. We are not only one of
the oldest regions, we were the co-founders of the Texas Packard
Meet. We have hosted two national meets, one in 1984 and the
other in 1998 and we were able to have James J. Nance (the last
president of Packard) to attend and speak at our national meet in
1984. We have been successful in establishing several national
projects and we, along with the other Texas Packard
regions, secured a WWII Packard PT boat engine for the
Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg. Having an award winning
quarterly publication, THE OWNER'S MANUAL, as well as having an
informative website also contribute to our success.

If you have an interest in preserving Packards history as well as
actual vehicles, you and your family are most welcome in the Lone Star
Packards region of the Packard Club. Join us and enjoy the fun. Print a Membership Application from this page. Happy
Packarding!

Featured
Member Car

Tommy and Chris Baccaro Extend the Lone Star Packards History of a 1956 Patrician

I
still remember the day back in the early 90's that Walter and Pat
Trimmer drove their newly acquired 1956 Patrician to a Lone Star
Packards meeting at a long gone diner in Richmond. It had full power
including dual electric antennas in the rear and factory air. They
bought it in New Mexico and I think they actually drove it home. It
was finished in Scottish Heather (my granddaughters say it is pink)
and Dover white. It was misting that day and the finish really
sparkled. As we were all gathered around it in the parking lot
literally drooling over the shiny Patrician, Walter said I am going
to do a complete restoration. I expressed that it was in better
condition than our two Packards and I would just drive and enjoy as
is until something needed to be fixed. Walter was very knowledgeable
and was a perfectionist. He took it apart! Being retired I think he
just enjoyed tinkering with the Packard. Over the years the engine
and transmission were rebuilt, the interior was renewed, all the
power window motors were replaced etc,etc. Long story short, that
Patrician never made another Packard Club meeting unless it was one
of several that Walter and Pat hosted at their home in Sugarland. It
often seemed near completion to most of us but he always found
something else to do. Though it did not get driven much, it brought a
lot of enjoyment to a really nice guy who we all miss.

Jump
forward to 2016. We had lost both Walter and Pat and the car floated
around to various family members until it and their 1940 Packard 110
ended up with Walter and Pat's son, Paul. Upon his acquisition
of the two cars, Paul sent them and all Walter's spare parts to a
restoration shop in Spring. Paul made the decision to restore the
1940 first and decide what to do with the '56 later. In the mean
time, restoration began on the 1940 and the Patrician was moved
around the shop but eventually it was stored outside for about three
years. The shop felt like more harm was being done to the paint by
letting it sit in all the dust generated inside than if it was
outside. About 6 months ago, Paul contacted me and asked if I could
help him sell the car. I put it out on our group email several times
but the months passed and there were no takers. I even called a
couple of people that I knew were in the market for a Packard but
there were no takers. In the meantime, Ben Carter and Rich Trokey
visited the shop to see if in Walter's spare parts there might be
something Ben needed for his '40. Ben reported to me that the
Patrician was really in better shape than expected after three years
outside. (when we eventually got it got it home I did buff it out
with Maguire's products and the paint looked much better than I
expected!) I needed a 5th Packard like I needed a hole in the head,
even though I had lusted after the senior V8 Packards since one of my
mom's customers had come to her shop driving a brand new Patrician
right off the floor from Wendall Hawkins Packard. (I was 13 at the
time) I called Paul and realized he was really a motivated seller. I
talked to my son Chris about the car and he encouraged me to go see
it. From the description, everything we could not do such as interior
and paint had already been done. Chris was a Ford tech for nearly 20
years and is now a shop foreman and assistant service manager at a
Ford dealer. I am no dummy I raised my own mechanic! We agreed if we
bought it he would store it at his new house and work on it as time
allowed so the partnership was formed. I advised Paul we were
preparing to go to the Packard national in South Bend and would check
out the Patrician and maybe make an offer for it and the parts upon
my return. I did and Paul accepted the offer. We met in Salado where
I was attending a meeting of the Packard Club regional directors
planning a return to Salado for the 2019 Texas Packard Meet. Paul
lives in the Austin area. Money and title were exchanged and we now
have a 1956 Packard Patrician.

Fast
forward a couple of weeks and my good friend John Lortz and I went to
pick up the Packard with his truck and trailer. With the exception of
the condition of the mixed matched tires, the car looked pretty nice.
When I had inspected it earlier, the gasoline smelled like kerosene
so I paid the shop to drain all the gas and put in 10 gallons of
fresh which they did. Unfortunately, much of the electrical system
was disconnected except what was needed to start the car. Another
friend told me Walter did not think the wipers worked smooth enough
so he removed a lot of stuff, including A/C so he could get to the
cable. None of the lights were connected, the heater core was
missing, the a/c compressor and condenser were off the car, wiper
motor missing, radio removed, all the interior door handles missing
except for the driver's door, air cleaner was off etc. etc. There
were no brakes and the push button tranny would not go into reverse.
John had to use his winch to get it on the trailer. When we got to
Chris', we had to push it off the trailer into the street because
there was no reverse. At this point, I am going to turn this article
over to Chris to detail what progress he has made. I am proud to say
that he and his family were able to drive it to the LSP Christmas
party last month in Friendswood. That's my boy!

Well
dad summed it up pretty good. The first priority was to fix the push
button issue so we could shift to reverse. After studying the push
button system and talking to several people on the internet about it
I believed the shift motor was out of position. I adjusted the
"actuator motor" and got lucky the first time. It was
running rough and I was convinced the carb. was bad. Dad had a spare
Rochester 4 barrel so he brought it over. Solved the problem! The
master cylinder was dry so fluid took care of the brake problem. So
now I got brave and decided I would run it around the block. It ran
great in first gear. So then I started looking at the wiring and
realized only the bare minimum was hooked up to start the car. I
worked on the headlights and horn. Then I noticed it wasn’t
charging. After checking over the wiring I finally decided I needed a
voltage regulator. I installed one and had it charging again. Brake
lights did not work but Dad had a spare 3 prong switch which the '55
and '56 Packards used so we got brake lights. I now decided to get
even braver and pushed the Patrician to about 45 mph. It had a loud
noise going into lockup at a low speed but if I let it shift later it
was OK. Now the whole time the load leveling system has been working
without a problem but all of a sudden it quit. The load leveling
system will have to wait though because the transmission needs to be
addressed first. I changed the fluid in the transmission the other
day and found a lot of metal in the pan. Since the transmission was
rebuilt, I suspect the torque converter and luckily Dad has a
spare one of those. It is a good thing we have a stash of parts and a
lot of experience with the red and white '55 Clipper our family has
enjoyed over the years because much of it also applies to this '56
patrician. So that’s where we are with the Patrician. The
kids have been excited about the car and Maya has helped me a lot
with detailing and handing me tools.